Town cries foul over water

A freeze of State Government funding has left the people of Mendooran with a water supply that smells like dead animals.

The 370 people who live in Mendooran were supposed to get a new $1.3 million water treatment plant in March.

The funding was to be split 50-50 between the Coolah Shire and the State Government.

But two weeks before work started the Government put a freeze on it in order to review country water supplies.

The president of the Mendooran Development Group, Helen Naif, says the town has been left with brown water that stains clothes and stinks.

"Particularly when the water's hot, if you run a hot bath the smell I can't describe it - it's quite putrid like it's a dead animal in the water, or other times it may be an overdose of chemical, it varies," she said.

A spokesperson for the Minister for Energy and Utilities, Frank Sartor, says the minister has instructed his staff to look into the situation in Mendooran.

She says Mr Sartor has promised to make a decision about the funding of the towns water supply within the next six weeks.

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